The Ohio State Buckeyes will turn to quarterback C.J. Stroud this season, as he attempts to replace the departed Justin Fields. Stroud has a lot of talent around him and the Buckeyes are listed as a big favorite on Thursday night as they visit the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers feature one of the top running backs in the country in Mohamed Ibrahim, so it is possible Minnesota can keep this game competitive. Let’s look at Ohio State vs. Minnesota and college football picks.
Week One college football action features a Big Ten Conference matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Minnesota Golden Gophers. This game takes place at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday, September 2, 2021. This game will be broadcast live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET. We’ll have college football odds available at Bookmaker.eu for this and every game in Week 1 college football.
College Football Betting at BookMaker.eu
Ohio State Buckeyes -13.5
Minnesota Golden Gophers +13.5
Total 64.5
Odds Analysis
The Buckeyes opened up as a 14-point favorite and the line is down to 13.5. It is always risky to go against Ohio State, but Minnesota is playing at home and the Buckeyes lost a lot of talent from last year’s team. The total opened at 64.5 but there is no question that the line is going to go higher before Thursday night.
Ohio State Buckeyes
All eyes will be on Stroud in this one, but head coach Ryan Day is likely to feature his running backs on Thursday. Ohio State has Master Teague and Treyveon Henderson and they should get plenty of carries in this game. The Buckeyes have more talent on both sides of the ball than the Gophers, so they just need Stroud to make the routine plays and not turn the ball over.
The one weakness on Ohio State could be the secondary, but it seems unlikely it is a weakness that Minnesota can exploit.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers are going to feature Ibrahim who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in just seven games last season. The Gophers return quarterback Tanner Morgan but he is coming off a poor season. Minnesota’s defense had major trouble in the secondary a year ago so it will be interesting to see how many big shots Stroud takes in this one. Minnesota also didn’t stop the run, as they had the second-worst run defense in the country a year ago. The Gophers have been pretty good under head coach P.J. Fleck, as he is 26-19 with Minnesota.
Ohio State vs. Minnesota Prediction
The Gophers have lost the last 11 games against Ohio State if you count the vacated win for Ohio State in 2010. The Gophers have not won against the Buckeyes since 2000. It has been ugly in this series for the most part with the Buckeyes winning easily.
Ohio State has plenty of talent surrounding Stroud and Minnesota’s defense simply isn’t capable of making enough plays to keep this one close unless the Buckeyes turn the ball over. I expect that Ohio State will be able to run the ball at will and that will open things up for Stroud to take some big shots. Sometimes the easiest thing for a new quarterback to do is throw deep and I expect the Buckeyes to hit some big plays on Thursday.
The Gophers have a solid running game but Ohio State has a very good defensive line. If the Gophers had a quarterback you could trust then perhaps they would be worth considering, but I don’t think Morgan is any good. I will lay the points and take the Buckeyes.
Bookmaker Pick: Ohio State Buckeyes -13.5
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